With Vanderbilt looking to build on its first win over a ranked opponent in five years behind newly appointed starting quarterback Patton Robinette, it’s time to learn a little more about the Aggies.

For our weekly “Five Questions” blog, we check in with Robert Cessna, execute sports editor and A&M beat reporter for The Eagle (Bryan-College Station) and AggieSports.com. Follow Cessna and The Eagle’s staff on Twitter @Aggie_Sports.

Now, on with the questions:

1. Just how good is this A&M offense … better than last season? Forty-one points is the lowest total the Aggies have scored through seven games, which is absurd. Has Manziel’s game improved over his 2012 Heisman campaign?

Cessna: The offense is improved because Manziel and sophomore wide receiver Mike Evans are better. Manziel’s passing mechanics have improved greatly with some credit to George Whitfield but it’s also Manziel’s second year in the system, he just sees the plays unfold so much better. Evans was slowed by a hamstring injury last season, but he’s been a beast this year. Malcome Kennedy and Travis Labhart are tremendous secondary receivers and A&M is so deep at running back and both tackles are projected to be first-round NFL picks.

2. Manziel has a pretty impressive target racing down the field. Talk about Evans and what makes him special, other than his great size. How many of his yards come on traditional routes and how many come on good, old-fashioned jump balls?

Cessna: When Manziel gets in trouble or needs a big play, he just throws it to Evans who combines his basketball skills along with an unbelievable mental edge. Evans almost came up with a game-winning catch against Auburn despite triple coverage, but still was disgusted with himself afterward for not making the circus catch. He hurdled a tackler at Ole Miss, though he says he won’t do that again.

3. While the offense has been unstoppable, A&M’s defense has allowed 33 points or more to each of the four SEC opponents it has faced and is getting torched by the run. Where are the weaknesses with this defense, who are the players to watch and what changes can the Aggies make to stop the bleeding?

Cessna: A&M’s defense has been hampered by suspensions, injuries and youth. Auburn gashed A&M for the 379 rushing yards, the most allowed since 2003. Losing senior nose guard Kirby Ennis to a knee injury was huge. Free safety Floyd Raven, Sr., has returned from a collarbone injury, returning Deshazor Everett, the unit’s best player, to cornerback. A&M has been unable to get any kind of rush on the quarterback. A&M has been victimized by coverage busts in the secondary, especially wheel routes, though Raven’s return should help. It can’t hurt.

4. We hear plenty about the prospect of James Franklin moving on and up from Vanderbilt at some point. The same rumors are flying regarding Kevin Sumlin. What can you share about his contract, how happy he is at A&M and whether you think he’d jump for a job such as USC?

Cessna: Sumlin was given a $1.1 million raise in the offseason to $3.1 million per year as Auburn and some NFL teams showed interest. He loves Aggieland having been here before as an assistant and jumped at the chance to return, but with the tough SEC West he’d have to listen if the Houston Texans or Dallas Cowboys came calling. I can’t see him going to USC with the recruiting classes he has lined up about to play in a 102,500-seat stadium. But the NFL might be a different story.

5. Give me a feel for game day, and game weekend, in College Station. What makes it one of the best stops in college football? For Vandy fans making their first trip, can you recommend a few spots to eat and check out?

Cessna: Midnight Yell Practice easily can attract 30,000. It’s a must, but I don’t know about that 11:21 a.m. kick. You can sleep when you get back. This along with Nebraska is one of the friendliest places for opposing teams, which is why our letters to the editor page was filled this week with comments from Auburn fans who can’t wait to return. The students (i.e. the 12th Man) stand the whole game. A&M doesn’t have cheerleaders, but Yell Leaders. There’s the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, part of Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets. The Game Day pageantry is great. Fargo’s BBQ is a barbecue joint that made Texas Monthly’s Top 50 and is where I saw ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit when he did the Alabama game. Koppe Bridge, Chicken Oil and the Grub Burger Bar are local burger joints. Papa Perez and Fuego’s are Mexican food places and Shipwreck is seafood. Sully’s Bar is across from campus and Northgate is the happening place with bars and restaurants were a player or two have been known to get arrested.

The depth chart lists Austyn Carta-Samuels “or” Patton Robinette as the first-string signal caller after Carta-Samuels sustained a left leg injury in the second quarter of Vanderbilt’s 31-27 win over Georgia. He did not return after exiting the game and left the stadium on crutches.

Carta-Samuels missed Sunday’s practice after returning home to California to visit his grandfather’s gravesite (Tom Samuels passed away last Wednesday; the burial was held Friday). Carta-Samuels said he would be back on campus Monday night at which time his injury would receive further evaluation. The Commodores do not practice on Mondays.

Vanderbilt has not released any details regarding the injury.

If Robinette gets the call to start at Texas A&M, Carta-Samuels would have two weeks to rest since the Commodores get their second bye week following their first-ever trip to College Station.

Robinette, a redshirt freshman from Maryville, has yet to start a game but played the entire second half Saturday while leading Vanderbilt back from a 27-14 fourth-quarter deficit. He completed 9 of 15 passes for 107 yards, was intercepted once and added a rushing touchdown in the win.

Turner scored 22 points and the Aggies staved off Auburn 71-62 in the opening round of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The SEC’s third-leading scorer (17.7) played with a splint, some gauze and three thick pieces of tape on his broken left pinkie finger and ring finger. Turner injured his pinkie on March 6 at LSU and sat out the Aggies’ regular-season finale last Saturday at Arkansas.

“At times it did (bother me), but it’s my last year,” Turner said. “I have to play with it no matter what. My teammates did a great job of telling me to stay composed and fight through it.”

“We were going to play him no matter what,” said Aggies coach Billy Kennedy, who added that Auburn players chopped at Turner’s left hand “a few times” in the first half.

Texas A&M (18-14), the No. 11 seed, will face sixth-seeded Missouri (22-9) at 9 tonight in the second round. The Aggies won their only meeting this season, 70-68, on Feb. 7 in College Station.

“They think that they should have won that game,” Turner said. “Missouri is a great team. They’re an NCAA Tournament team. We’ve got to have our best game of the year.”

Turner (6 of 15 shooting; 8 of 8 free throws) showed that his injury, aside from occasionally tugging at it during stoppages of play, had little impact on his shot and dribbling.

His back-to-back jumpers early in the second half stymied an Auburn run after Texas A&M’s lead had shrunk to 36-34. That, however, didn’t get the Tigers to go away.

When Chris Denson (15 points) went to the foul line and capped a three-point play with 11:16 to play, Auburn (9-23) had tied the score at 47.

“When I got the and-one, I thought we were going to take the game,” Denson said. “But the defensive lapses really held us back.”

Fabyon Harris, who exited with a left ankle injury in the first half, put Texas A&M back up 50-47 on a 3-pointer at the 10:58 mark. The Aggies held on to the lead from there and used an emphatic dunk from freshman guard Alex Caruso (14 points, six assists) to extend the margin to 54-49.

Texas A&M hit 21 of 26 free throws to preserve its lead down the stretch.

Frankie Sullivan scored 19 points to pace the Tigers, who trailed 34-21 late in the first half. But Auburn closed the half with a 6-0 flurry and went to work after the break, methodically chipping away until it caught the Aggies – if only momentarily.

Texas A&M had lost four of five coming in but had enough oomph for an Auburn team that was seeded 14th and lost its 10th consecutive game. It was the 16th loss in 17 outings for the Tigers, whose only win since Jan. 12 came against Alabama on Feb. 6. Auburn graduates three starters, including Sullivan, its leading scorer.

It was a fast and frantic opening segment to the evening’s late game. The two teams connected on 11 of the first 15 shots as the Aggies outraced the Tigers, 15-13, to the first media timeout.

“Both teams came out on fire,” Kennedy said. “It was a tournament-type game. We handled their run in the second half and I thought that was the big key.”

Auburn’s offense was the first to fall off the pace. The Tigers went through a scoring drought of more than six minutes while Texas A&M posted 14 consecutive points and muscled its way to a 24-13 lead. Turner had all nine of his first-half points by that stage.

Right now the verdict is to allow Vanderbilt point guard Kedren Johnson to play, and it appears that will continue to be the case unless the trainers and doctors inform coach Kevin Stallings it is not wise to do so.

Stallings, who brought up surgery as a potential option after the season, addressed the injury as well as upcoming opponent Texas A&M and high-scoring wing Elston Turner. The Commodores and Aggies tip off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday (FSN-TV) at Memorial Gym.

Kevin Stallings

On Johnson’s injury being an issue the rest of the season …

“I don’t know. You never know when it’s going to get banged, and you never know when it’s going to do what it does. I’ve never been a coach that questions the trainers or questions the doctors. If they tell me he can’t play, then he can’t play. If they tell me he can play, then I assume he can play. I can’t do any more than that. I can’t make it heal. And I think some of the time when it gets hurt, it’s a very temporary thing. It’s just a painful thing at a moment, or a couple of minutes. Sometimes it lasts the rest of the game and into the next day. You never know from one time to the next what kind of pain it is. Kedren is a tough kid physically. He’s played through some pain. He doesn’t like to sit out. He doesn’t want to be out. He’ll give us the best he’s got.”

On the potential for it to be a problem in the future …

“Depending on what happens the remainder of the season, and what happens early in the offseason, maybe we have to have a discussion about whether it (the shoulder ligaments) needs to be strapped down (with surgery) or not. But again, that’s up to Kedren, the doctors, the trainers, Kedren’s family. That’s not really my decision.”

On Turner …

“He’s obviously having a terrific year. To have multiple games close to 40 (points) is really incredible. It’s impressive that he can get to the foul line. He can post you up. He can score from the perimeter. So he’s an awfully good player. I would think Kevin (Bright) would get more of that assignment than Dai-Jon (Parker). (Turner) is more of a small forward than he is a big guard, and at his size we have to put somebody a little bigger on him.”

On the job Vandy has done defending marquee scorers this season …

“I would say it’s probably a mixed bag. At time we’ve had some success, at times we’ve struggled. I think that we’ve been defensively, as a whole, we’ve been pretty solid – the first half (on Wednesday against Tennessee) not withstanding.”

On Texas A&M …

“They’re not a one-man show. One of their other guards is really good. He’s shooting the ball at like a 44-percent clip from 3. The big guy is a really good offensive rebounder, and thick and powerful inside. We’ve got a lot of challenges in this game. Not only defensively, but rebounding – and probably the best thing they do is play defense. And they have a guy, obviously, that’s capable of going off at this juncture unlike anybody else in the league.”

On John Jenkins, Jeffery Taylor and Festus Ezeli returning during the NBA all-star break …

“It’s nice of them to come back, and nice of them to want to come back. They’ve been a big part of what we’ve done here. But, you know, we’ve had other guys back. Julian Terrell was back for the last couple of weeks. Alan Metcalfe came back … we’ve had a number of guys come back. I know these three guys that are in the NBA would get more attention and maybe rightfully so, but it’s nice to have all of them come back whenever they want to.”